


A (Not Quite) Midnight Jamboree

by punk_rock_yuppie



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Could be seen as a human AU, First Kiss, Flirting, Fluff, Get together fic, M/M, Modern AU, Podfic Welcome, meet cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-06 19:18:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16838779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punk_rock_yuppie/pseuds/punk_rock_yuppie
Summary: Taako is bored at the haunted house, until something (or rather,someone) more interesting comes along.





	A (Not Quite) Midnight Jamboree

**Author's Note:**

> and so begins my descent into writing TAZ fic. be gentle! this idea came to me and wouldn't leave me alone. big thanks to mac for beta'ing!
> 
> enjoy! stay tuned for (potentially) more TAZ content from me!

Don’t get it twisted: Taako _loves_ Halloween. Dressing up? Snacks? Scaring the shit out of people? Some of Taako’s favorite past times. It’s not even actually Halloween yet—they’re only in the second week of October—and he’s already got Magnus _and_ Angus to shriek like their asses are on fire a dozen times a piece. Merle’s been a little tougher, but Taako’s nothing if not determined.

Anyways. It’s not that Taako doesn’t _like_ Halloween, or that Taako dislikes haunted houses. It’s just that he’d rather be at home watching the latest season of _Queer Eye_ or perfecting some of his latest recipes and instead, his three best friends have dragged him along to a decrepit old two-story on the outskirts of town.

Taako sighs and taps his foot impatiently in line. Magnus bounces excitedly at his side and Merle leads the way, looking simultaneously grouchy and delighted. They’re both way too eager to get the shit scared out of them by a bunch of strangers, and to pay _money_ for it no less.

“C’mon, Taako,” Magnus says, elbowing him gently in the side. “At least put on a happy face for Ango.”

Taako grits his teeth; it’s a request he can’t really turn down. He _loves_ Magnus’ charge, the little orphan boy that Magnus has taken to mentoring. Angus is a dork, _hardcore_ , but he’s also the coolest ten-year-old Taako’s ever known. Not that he knows any others, but still.

“Speak of the devil,” Merle declares as rapid footsteps approach them, crunching across dead leaves.

“Hello, sirs!” Angus cries as he skids to a halt just before crashing against Magnus’ leg. “Thank you for letting me come.” He’s already said thank you three times tonight: once when they picked him up from his foster house, once at dinner, and once as Magnus parked the car in the overcrowded parking lot, just before Angus rushed off to the bathroom.

“Don’t gotta thank us, kiddo,” Taako says yet again. Despite his breezy, uncaring tone, he reaches out to ruffle Angus’ hair just a little bit. The kid beams up at him, delighted.

“Are you scared?” Angus asks when the line starts to shuffle forward. He’s sandwiched between Magnus and Taako now, a hand linked with each of them. “I am.”

“Course you are, Agnes,” Taako says. He bends a little lower, dropping his voice as he speaks. “I’ll protect you.”

Angus grins at him, a toothy and uneven thing.

“So will I,” Magnus hisses, but Taako can see he’s shaking.

Taako catches Angus’ gaze and rolls his eyes. Angus smothers his giggle with a cough. Taako straightens up as they reach the front of the line, next to a man in all denim who’s taking cash and giving out stamps on the backs of hands for admission. Merle pays, grumbling only a little bit about the cost like the old grouch he pretends to be, and takes a stamp on his hand.

Magnus is next and clearly marvels over the stamp, delighted. Taako holds out his next and scoffs at the raven resting atop a skull—cliched, at best. He hangs back as Angus extends his hand for the stamp; the man doling them out grins brightly at Angus and says, “Have fun!” Before shoo’ing them both on.

Taako, a hand still entwined with Angus’, catches up to Magnus and Merle just as another employee is coming up to them.

“A group of four,” Magnus says before the person can even open their mouth. It’s a short and stoutly man, who looks surprised, but then shakes his head and smiles.

“Please stay close together,” the man advises. “Please keep your hands to yourselves and each other. None of our actors here will touch you, and we ask that you do the same. If for whatever reason you need to leave before the scare is up, please use the allotted safe word: Starblaster.”

Taako snorts, and the man grins as if to say, _“I know.”_ The man clears his throat and continues.

“Any of our scare actors can assist you at any time as long as you use the safe word, we have numerous exits to get you out as soon as possible and all of our actors are trained in CPR if needed. Don’t let that alarm you!”

“Kinda ruins the mystery,” Taako whispers conspiratorially to Magnus, only to be shushed. Angus tugs at Taako’s hand and nods rapidly; despite that, there’s a glint of fear in the young boy’s eyes.

“Let’s get started, shall we?” The man grins at them and bizarrely, his expression turns almost devilish. A chill of unease runs up Taako’s spine.

The room goes dark suddenly—Magnus screams and Merle sputters, choking on what might’ve been a shriek—and when the light comes on again, the man from before is gone. Angus moves closer to Taako, grips his hand a little tighter. With a moaning, groaning creak, the door in front of them opens just as abruptly as the lights as gone out, and a hissing voice beckons them.

No one moves, so it’s with a soft swear under his breath that Taako steps forward. Gently he tugs Angus along, and it’s only after they’ve crossed the threshold into the hallway that Taako looks back to double check Magnus and Merle are following. They are, at once apprehensive and quick enough to trip over their feet.

The first few scares aren’t so bad. Even Magnus manages to mellow out a bit, save for the few moments that involve spiders, all fake but no less terrifying for the man. Taako snickers privately each time, even knowing that he could end up scared just as easily. He keeps a hand linked with Angus as they shuffle their way through the falling-down halls and past pictures whose eyes watch their every move.

Taako’s not bored, per se, but he’s not nearly as tightly-strung as his three companions. It’s a little gratifying to be head of the party, leading them through danger, even if it’s all paid for and manufactured. It’s also a bit of a letdown, to be honest, since even Taako loves being scared now and then—the rush is undeniable.

Taako’s internally lamenting this as they round a corner, slipping into an all-black hallway. The walls immediately feel too close, closing in, and Taako’s breathing catches. Magnus lets out an unsettled groan and Angus whimpers as Taako’s side. Even as his eyes adjust to the darkness, Taako swears he can see things moving along the walls, shadowy figures and unclear shapes. He hears voices, shoes scraping on the floor.

He finally gets the scare he’s been looking for when someone with a bony face and draped in a blood-red cloak pops out unexpectedly. It’s not even like the guy is scary looking or anything. It’s just a right place, right time moment. Taako shrieks and startles back, nearly taking Angus’ arm out of his socket as he goes. He shrieks again when the figure moves closer, reaches for him even.

Then there’s a cry of triumph, followed by one of pain, and a dull _thud_. Taako opens his eyes—unsure of when he closed them—to see the hooded figure on its knees and Angus standing protectively in front of Taako.

“It’s okay, sir, I’ll protect you!” Angus shouts it over his shoulder before facing the scare actor again. It’s cute, almost painfully so, the way Angus puffs out his chest even as he shakes. A quick look behind them confirms Merle is on the ground laughing and Magnus is wiping mirthful tears from his eyes. The groups that had come in behind them now filter around them, keeping as wide a berth as they can, also snickering.

“Ango, it’s okay, I’m fine,” Taako says, tugging gently on Angus’ hand. “I’m okay, it’s just one of the actors.” Angus stumbles back against Taako’s hip.

“He was going to touch you, sir!”

“I just wanted,” a cockney voice starts before coughing. “I just wanted to make sure he was okay.” As the voice continues, it grows less British and considerably more American, though no less dreamy. Slowly but surely, the figure stands up and brushes dirt from his robe. “I’m so, so sorry about that. You just screamed so loud.”

As he stands up straight and now that Taako’s eyes have adjusted to the dark, he can see the dark lines of the man’s face underneath white face paint. It takes him a minute, but Taako realizes it’s a skull painted across the man’s skin.

“I thought screaming was the point.”

“It sounded like you might’ve said the safe word,” the man explains. He pulls back the hood of his robe to reveal thick, tightly curled hair that’s gathered into a lazy ponytail. One stray curl rests across the man’s forehead, bouncing as he speaks. “I had to make sure.”

“It did, sir,” Angus points out now. “I thought that too.” He looks up at Taako curiously.

“I don’t remember that,” Taako replies, even though he knows he did scream some approximation of the word starblaster. “I’m fine,” he says again.

The scare actor nods. “Alright.”

None of them move. Taako can’t stop staring at the man’s almost golden eyes and, if he’s being honest, he thinks the other man might feel the same way about Taako’s own watery blue eyes. There’s a beat of almost awkward silence, then Magnus clears his throat.

“Sorry!” The man half-shouts as he steps aside and presses himself to the grimy wall of the haunt. “Please, carry on.”

Merle and Magnus barrel ahead and Angus tries to as well, but he’s still holding Taako’s hand.

“Taako, sir?”

“Taako?” The scare actor says, curious.

“Me,” Taako answers. “I’m coming, Angus.” He gets in one step before a hand lands on his shoulder. He only jumps a little bit.

“I’m Kravitz,” the man says. He flashes Taako the faintest grin.

Taako grins back and lets Angus pull him away.

“You didn’t kick him in the nards, did you, Ango?”

Angus frowns. “Of course not, sir. Just in the shin.”

Taako nods. “Good boy.”

The rest of the haunt passes in a blur, one Taako hardly remembers. He’s admittedly _far_ too preoccupied with the scare actor, with _Kravitz_. He’s more enamored than he should be, given he spent less than five minutes total in the guy’s company. Something about the man, even aside from the robe and the face paint, was memorable.

Merle ends up leading them through the rest of the haunt and by the time they’re stumbling out, Angus is riding piggy-back on Magnus’ back. It’s a ridiculously cute sight and Taako definitely snaps a couple pics as he trails behind the two of them on the way out. He pockets his phone as they spill out into the gravel-coated grounds, and they’re all wordlessly moving toward the direction of the parking lot.

This time, when a too-cold hand lands on his elbow, Taako doesn’t quite _scream_ but he sure doesn’t stay quiet. He whips around with a hand out, intending on slapping whoever grabbed him.

He stops with his palm just an inch from Kravitz’s still painted cheek.

“Oh, well. Hello.” Taako grins and lets his hand drop.

“Hello,” Kravitz says. He’s smiling, soft and a little shy. “Sorry about earlier,” he says.

“It’s no problem, my dude.” Taako shakes his head. “It’s a haunted fucking house, it’d be pretty shitty if I didn’t scream, huh?”

Kravitz nods. “Right, yes. Uhm.”

Taako raises an eyebrow and waits him out.

“Did you—were you—ah, looks like your group is looking for you.” He points past Taako’s shoulder where, sure enough, Merle and Magnus, with Angus practically asleep on Magnus’ back, are waiting for Taako.

“They can wait.” Taako turns back to Kravitz. “Did you need something?”

Kravitz blinks owlishly at Taako. “Er.”

Taako reaches out and brushes a hand across Kravitz’s cheek. He tucks a stray hair behind the man’s ear. “You gotta phone, hot stuff?”

Kravitz scrambles for his robe, kicking up dirt around them. He yanks the blood-red fabric back and exposes wrinkled black trousers and a deep gray button-down. He pulls a sleek phone from the pocket of his slacks and nearly drops it in his haste to hand it to Taako.

“Oh, I need to unlock it, don’t I?” Kravitz says the second the phone leaves his hands. Taako hands the phone back and Kravitz takes it sheepishly. He types in his passcode, pulls it up to a new contact screen, and passes it back.

Taako makes short work of entering his info and shooting himself a text—three winky faces and a heart, of course—but he doesn’t hand the phone back. “Coffee?” He asks. “Tomorrow?”

“Eleven?” Kravitz counters.

Taako scoffs. “As if I’d be up that early. One?”

“Works for me.” Kravitz takes his phone back with a dazed expression. “Taako, I,” he pauses.

Taako sees an opportunity and takes it. He leans in and kisses Kravitz, just softly on the lips, and admires the smudges of paint. The skull features that had been painted on are ruined, leaving only a ghostly hint of white across his cheekbones and chin and nose. Taako smirks as he pulls back from the kiss.

“See you tomorrow,” Taako says. He finally takes a step back.

“We didn’t actually decide on a place,” Kravitz calls out as he watches Taako retreat.

“I’ll text you an address!” Taako waves and then turns at least to stride back to his friends. He throws a few more looks over his shoulder for good measure—and he’s gratified to see Kravitz still watching him, every time. Taako’s still half-smirking, half-grinning by the time he makes it back to Magnus and Merle. “What’s the hold up? I’m tired of waiting on you two.”

Merle rolls his eyes but Magnus, with faintly tinged cheeks, reaches out and points to the corner of Taako’s mouth. “You got a little something.”

“I know,” Taako replies triumphantly.

Magnus nods. “Thought so.”


End file.
